Human being’s inlight of all of the difficulties brought by their environment, employ their creativity to solve their problems one day at a time
Mount Agung
The island of Bali is home to two volcanos; Mount Agung and Mount Batur. Mount Agung is the highest point of Bali, reaching up to 3031 meters high. Dominating the surrounding area it has the ability to affect climate and rainfall patterns. As far as recordings show, the first eruption of Mount Agung happened in 1843 expelling earthquake shocks, sand, ash and stones. The major eruption occurred on February 24th, 1963 with lava flowing down the northern slope of the mountain. The flows affected numerous villages killing an estimated 1,100-1,500 people. Heavy rainfall resulted in more deaths and minor eruptions lasted the whole year.
More recently, the 2017 seismic activity and eruption of Mount Agung has resulted in the residents within the village of Desa Ban, Karangasem regency, having to be evacuated for 5 months. Scattered across the whole island, they were separated and placed within refugee camps. The area experienced 844 volcanic earthquakes in September, 2017. The frequency and intensity of the earthquakes caused a lot of concerns to those who monitor the signs of volcanoes who said that historically many volcanoes much like Mount Agung have known to erupt with fewer warning signs. Towards the end of September the alert level reached to the highest point and 122,500 were evacuated from their homes as a 12 kilometer danger zone was issued by the Indonesian National Disaster Management Authority. Over the next few months the activity varied and at the beginning of March 2018, the evacuees were able to move back into their homes.
1.
My name is Wyn Nuaisih, I am 35 years old and I am from Bonyoh. My son is still sick, he is very underweight as he has gotten sick 3 times this month, but I hope he will be OK. When I attended school both girls and boys were able to go. It is important for all of the children to get higher education if they could, but sometimes that would not be possible so the parents would only send the boys as they are the heirs of the family. So for Hindu people the sons are the heirs. The girls would only attempt to finish high school. It is normal for the girls to leave the family as they do not have to take responsibility to take care of their parents, but it is the sons who have to take care of their parents to an old age. The female will become someone's wife and leave to live with her husband.
The daily routine of a man would be to do housework and collect hay. The women also do housework, cooking and sweeping. I like to keep a cottage garden which I look after but only when it is the right time and season for gardening. I have already finished gardening for now, I will resume again in december. Men and women can generally do the same jobs, and men can sometimes take over the woman’s job if she does not have time or if she is sick. But, only women can prepare offerings and they are in charge of doing so. Usually the man is the community leader, and there haven’t really been cases where women have been elected as the leaders. I also believe that it is better to have a male leader. In my village, women usually get married at about 17 years of age and for men it is between 25 and 27 years of age. My husband was the one to decide how many children we have or will have and I supported his decision. When I have children I will appreciate whatever God gives me, I do not have any preference but I hope that I will have one or two boys so that they will continue the family lineage.
2.
My name is Wayan Kaning, I am 65 years old and I live in Cegi. On a daily basis I usually cook, cut grass and I also like planting sweet potato, cassava. Nowadays, I mostly plait baskets as we need to make them to then sell and make money. Taking care of the house and the kids is also a duty of mine. Most women tend to also do the job of men, but men can also do the women’s job. My husband is too lazy, after doing his job he does not do anything, he mostly just waits around for the afternoon to cut grass again. In Cegi it is okay if only the women work, we all have jobs to do and this includes taking care of our children an cooking. It is believed that if a women does not work, men will not find her useful so they will not marry her. They will think ‘why did I marry her? I am not going to marry a statue that cannot do anything’. My parents chose my partner for me, my husband is my cousin so I was married within my family. I have accept this. When we first got married, for more than 2 months we did not act like a normal husband and wife do - we did not make love. We were both shy and we did not get time to fall in love just yet.
3.
My name is Nyoman Binder, I am 56 years old and I am from Cegi Hamlet . When I was young only I and one other boy went to school. The girls did not go to school because their parents thought there was no need, they used to say “why would you go to school, there are a lot of young doctors and teachers and which one of them are you going to replace?” Although I only finished grade three. During rainy season not many go to school as the parents worry about their child’s safety.
Usually women are responsible for cooking, mowing, weaving and taking care of their children most of the time women may do the work of men and vice versa but each person has their own personal duties. Throughout my life my wife and I were able to have six children, unfortunately four of my children have passed away and I am grateful for the two that are left. Usually the preference would be to have one boy and one girl within a family. I would say the ideal age to marry for men is between 24 and 26 years of age. But for women, it is 18 and no older than 20 years old. I married my wife as I loved her with all of my heart, and it was also her own choice to marry me. Many of my friends were married by arrangement within my generation. I was lucky enough to meet my soulmate.
Getting a better job outside the village is possible, but the rule is that I would have to visit my wife at least once a week. Realistically, here there are rarely people that work outside of the village because they lack in knowledge and skills. Usually men are entitled to take the children in an unfortunate event of a divorce between man and woman. But, if it has been agreed upon when they first married that the woman can take her children then that is allowed. Even if the woman is wealthier and has the ability to provide a better life for the children she still will be unable to take care of the child because the husband’s family will not allow it.
4.
My name is Ngh Tirtayasa, I am 28 years of age and I live in Bonyoh Hamlet. In my village and generation only boys were able to go to school as many families did not have enough money to send the girls to school as well. The school was located very far away too so it would be difficult to get their every morning. Thankfully, today both boys and girls can go to school because it is nearby. Today, I would say that it it is more important for boys to go to school as it is believed that the girls will get married before they finish school, therefore the girls will be with their husbands.
In terms of the everyday; men usually do farming, they look for grass for the cows and they plant. Women also tend to look for grass, they cook, wash and make canang and prepare banten (offerings) each day. Only women can cook and prepare ritual offerings at is a women's only job. The community leader is generally a man, but it is believed within my village that if a woman finishes senior high school then she could also become a leader. It is extremely important for the male to work, the husband is the head of the family and it is the wife's job to take care of the children.
My parents chose my wife for me, but I also wanted to get married. In my opinion, I think the ideal age to get married for men is between 25 and 30 years old. But for females it is often lower between about 20 and 23. We decide how many children we want together, my wife wants one boy and one girl and I don’t mind what gender my kids are
5.
My name is Ingh Sueta and I am 44 years old, I live in Belong hamlet, Desa Ban. When I married my wife Wi Nadri it was my own choice, I married the woman I love. But in my generation most of the marriages were arranged by the parents of the woman and man. My parents asked me to go to school, but I chose to get married instead. As I got married quite early on, I only finished elementary school seen as it was located incredibly far. The school was located in Kubu, I feel that this made me lazy as every morning I had to walk very far as we did not have motorcycles back then. Thankfully today, school is close and more kids are able to get a proper education. In terms of children, as in the Balinese culture, I would want a child of the male gender first, simply because I would like them to continue the family lineage, but then I do not have much preference about what my other children are.
If my wife is working and I am not it will make people think bad of me, as the leader of the family, I am expected to carry out certain duties. Generally people work at a farm or breed cows. Luckily the younger generation will hopefully get a better education and move to Denpasar to find good jobs. With my education qualifications I am only able to do farming and breeding of cows. But, If the husband is healthy, he should contribute in one way or another. Usually both men and women do the same jobs, but there is still the belief that men are the priority within our village. Usually, women take on the responsibility of taking care of the children, looking and looking for grass. Men and women also weave baskets. The leader of the community is generally a man, but a woman may also be selected as long as the community believe that she can do it and select her.
6.
My name is Wi Nadri and I am 40 years old, I live in Belong Hamlet in Dessa Ban. Some of my daily jobs include cooking, cleaning and sometimes looking for grass to either sell or to feed our cows. In my generation my brothers went to school and the girls did not, this was due to many reasons and viewpoints from my parents. As the males were supposed to get education for work. But most of the schools were very far away. Within my family all of my siblings and I were treated the same, but they always preferred more boys in the family to girls, as they wanted to continue the family lineage. If I find work out of the village in Denpasar lets say, my husband won’t let me go. But if it important and I cannot say no then he will leave with me.
7.
I first visited East Bali, Indonesia in 2017 when I worked alongside a charity whose main mission was to eliminate poverty in rural areas. Looking back at the emotional experience which I was exposed to I realised that one of the reasons as to why the progress is slower than expected results from the non-existent exposure it recieves by the media, photography and general news. Perhaps some local’s know of this issue but what about the rest of the world? What about the tourists that limit themselves to exploring only the south of the Island?
The four Hamlets explored within this project; Cegi, Pengalusan, Belong and Bonyoh are all hamlets in Desa Ban which are located within 4-6 kilometers of the crater of Mount Agung. Speaking to a various number people who I came across during my travels I listened and learnt about their struggles during their 5 months of being away from home. When being told to evacuate they had to sell their main source of income - livestock. Cow’s are how they make their money. They breed and sell them which allows them to afford food and other goods. Each family has an abundance of cows. The evacuation resulted in them having to leave behind or sell the cows for cheap.
During their time away from the village of Desa Ban they had to alter their lifestyles drastically. They needed to be able to find jobs to provide for their families, which proved challenging due to only an elementary school level of education. Now that they are back within their homes they have no cows and no livestock, making it difficult even to afford essential foods. The state of being in a survival mode makes feeding their families the main priority each day. Having visited the hamlets a number of times I witnessed the daily activities of those who are taking it one day at a time. The uncertainty of not knowing if the volcano will decide to wake up again was very much present within the atmosphere of the Hamlets. Investing the majority of their savings that they have to purchase another cow lingers within the minds of many resisdents of the Desa Ban village everyday. The uncertainty of whether or not the volcano will wake again remains.
I witnessed the art of weaving baskets and other materials which they sell daily to gain enough to feed themselves for a day, or two.
The safe zone of Denpasar, holds the most job opportunities, but for many this move is not an option.
I first visited East Bali, Indonesia in 2017 when I worked alongside a charity whose main mission was to eliminate poverty in rural areas. Looking back at the emotional experience which I was exposed to I realised that one of the reasons as to why the progress is slower than expected results from the non-existent exposure it recieves by the media, photography and general news. Perhaps some local’s know of this issue but what about the rest of the world? What about the tourists that limit themselves to exploring only the south of the Island?
The four Hamlets explored within this project; Cegi, Pengalusan, Belong and Bonyoh are all hamlets in Desa Ban which are located within 4-6 kilometers of the crater of Mount Agung. Speaking to a various number people who I came across during my travels I listened and learnt about their struggles during their 5 months of being away from home. When being told to evacuate they had to sell their main source of income - livestock. Cow’s are how they make their money. They breed and sell them which allows them to afford food and other goods. Each family has an abundance of cows. The evacuation resulted in them having to leave behind or sell the cows for cheap.
During their time away from the village of Desa Ban they had to alter their lifestyles drastically. They needed to be able to find jobs to provide for their families, which proved challenging due to only an elementary school level of education. Now that they are back within their homes they have no cows and no livestock, making it difficult even to afford essential foods. The state of being in a survival mode makes feeding their families the main priority each day. Having visited the hamlets a number of times I witnessed the daily activities of those who are taking it one day at a time. The uncertainty of not knowing if the volcano will decide to wake up again was very much present within the atmosphere of the Hamlets. Investing the majority of their savings that they have to purchase another cow lingers within the minds of many resisdents of the Desa Ban village everyday. The uncertainty of whether or not the volcano will wake again remains.
I witnessed the art of weaving baskets and other materials which they sell daily to gain enough to feed themselves for a day, or two.
The safe zone of Denpasar, holds the most job opportunities, but for many this move is not an option.
Credits
The people who made all of this happen, my parents and friends.
To the staff at the East Bali Poverty Project for having and supporting me my through my research.
Okta, Agus, Peny, Meti and Sri for being my translator’s.
Agus for being my photography assistant.
To my subjects who welcomed me into their homes and contributed their stories to this project.
To Hannah Rice my graphic designer for the collaboration.
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